On Thursday 25th of August the announcement was made that a definitive agreement had been reached to sell the shares of Bark Packaging Group, a supplier of industrial, flexible and UN-certified packaging and portfolio company of Quadrum, to Berlin Packaging, the world’s largest “hybrid” supplier of (mainly) rigid packaging. At the same time it has been announced that Bark Packaging Group has completed the acquisition of DeeDee Verpakkingen, a supplier of flexible packaging especially active in innovative stand-up pouches. With this acquisition Berlin Packaging has significantly strengthened its position on the Northern European market and DeeDee Verpakkingen, together with Bark Verpakkingen, Bark Innovations, Dutch Pack International and Carepack, become part of Berlin Packaging.

In March 2020, Quadrum invested in Bark from its second fund, Quadrum Investment Fund II, acquiring a stake alongside Erik Bos and Berny Plas, the two directors and fellow shareholders. A key pillar of the investment strategy was to enable the Eerbeek-based company to accelerate growth, both organically through product innovation and international expansion, and through a buy & build strategy focused on complementary specialists. This led in 2021 to the acquisition of Carepack, a specialist in UN-certified packaging for hazardous substances, and continued in June 2022 with the acquisition of DeeDee, active in flexible packaging. These acquisitions fitted perfectly with Bark’s strategy of expanding its key position in its customers’ supply chains, aimed at unburdening customers as much as possible by providing them with all their packaging management needs.

Gert van Drie, Investment Director at Quadrum: “Faster than expected, but with appropriate pride we now say goodbye to Bark. It is an excellent example of successful cooperation with an enterprising management team of Erik Bos and Berny Plas”. Dennis de Buijzer, Investment Manager, adds: “We have enjoyed working with management to build the Bark Packaging Group and are very grateful for their leadership in making this a success. We are proud to have been a part of this and wish Erik and Berny all the best with the further growth of the company in the coming years.”

Erik Bos, CEO and co-shareholder of Bark Packaging Group: “We are grateful for Quadrum’s support in the past years, in which they have given us the confidence and entrepreneurial freedom to further build the company. This has brought us to the current Bark, which as a platform is ready to realise further growth.” Berny Plas, founder and co-shareholder of Bark Packaging Group: “We look forward to starting this new chapter in our history with Berlin Packaging. Together we can offer our customers a wide range of advanced solutions and offer our people even more opportunities.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Bark and Berlin Packaging. This partnership opens up so many new opportunities for our team. Everyone at DeeDee is ready to help our new and existing customers find the perfect pouch for their product,” said Elke Coolen and Inge Louwers, Directors of DeeDee

“Bark and DeeDee will be a great addition to Berlin Packaging. Both companies have a lot of knowledge and expertise in their respective markets, and we are delighted to add both companies to Berlin Packaging,” said Paolo Recrosio, CEO of Berlin Packaging EMEA. Marcel Schröder, CEO Benelux/Nordics/DACH of Berlin added: “We welcome all new colleagues who will bring new opportunities to Berlin. No doubt this combination will bring our customers in Northern Europe and beyond many new success stories”.

“The addition of Bark including DeeDee will give Berlin a stronger foothold in Northern Europe, especially for flexible and UN-certified packaging. We also will expand our industrial packaging capabilities in Northern Europe, including Germany, a key European market,” said Bill Hayes, Global CEO of Berlin Packaging.

As part of Berlin Packaging, the continuity of the company and the retention of staff is guaranteed, with the management team led by Erik Bos, Berny Plas and, since last year, Konrad Eichberger continuing their work. The closing of the acquisition is subject to the usual conditions and will be finalised in the coming period.

About Bark Packaging Group Since its foundation in 1978, the Bark Packaging Group from Eerbeek has grown from a traditional packaging wholesaler to an important link in the supply chain of its customers. As a specialist in packaging management, Bark Packaging Group provides, in addition to supplying industrial, flexible and UN-certified packaging, the complete packaging needs of its customers by unburdening them in the field of purchasing, logistics, stock management and financing. These business models are well known as “Outsourcing Concept” and “Tail-end Management concept”.Besides the aforementioned Bark Packaging Group offers customers support from its own innovation center Bark Innovations in the field of the development of new packaging concepts and the (re)design of packaging.

For more information: www.barkpackaginggroup.com

About Berlin Packaging Berlin Packaging is the world’s largest Hybrid Packaging Supplier® of glass, plastic, and metal containers and closures. The company supplies billions of items annually along with package design, financing, consulting, warehousing, and logistics services for customers across all industries. Berlin Packaging brings together the best of manufacturing, distribution, and income-adding service providers. Its mission is to increase the net income of its customers through packaging products and services.

Please visit www.berlingpackaging.com and www.berlinpackaging.eu for more information.